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Tag: babies

  • 30m babies on the brink of death – UN-backed report

    30m babies on the brink of death – UN-backed report

    Nearly 30 million babies are born too soon, too small or become sick, requiring specialised care to survive beyond the first month of life, according to a new UN-backed report.

    The report: ‘Survive and Thrive: Transforming care for every small and sick newborn’, was released by a global coalition that includes the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO).

    UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Omar Abdi said: “When it comes to babies and their mothers, the right care at the right time in the right place can make all the difference.

    “Yet, millions of small and sick babies and women are dying every year because they simply do not receive the quality care that is their right, and our collective responsibility.”

    The report found that babies with complications from being born premature, or suffering brain injury during childbirth, severe bacterial infection or jaundice, risk death and disability.

    Furthermore, the financial and psychological toll on their families can effect their cognitive, linguistic and emotional development, it stated.

    “For every mother and baby, a healthy start from pregnancy through childbirth and the first months after birth is essential,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Deputy Director General for Programmes at WHO.

    Swaminathan lauded universal health coverage to ensure that everyone, including newborns, has access to the health services they need, regardless of the ability to pay.

    “Progress on newborn healthcare is a win-win situation: it saves lives and is critical for early child development thus impacting on families, society, and future generations,” she added.

    The report said some 2.5 million newborns died in 2017, mostly from preventable causes; nearly two-thirds were premature, adding should these babies survive, they often face chronic diseases or developmental delays.

    Figures disclosed that an estimated one million small and sick newborns survived each year with a long-term disability.

    “The good news is that these babies can live without major complications if smarter strategies are employed, such as providing team care for both mother and baby through labour, birth and beyond, to catch problems and issues early.

    “The report projects optimistically, that the lives of 2.9 million women, stillborns and newborns in 81 countries can be saved by 2030.”

    The report said for the world to achieve the global target of quality healthcare for all, newborn services must be transformed, adding however, without rapid progress, some countries will not meet this target for another 11 decades.

    The report recommended providing 24-hour and seven-day inpatient care for newborns, and instituting partnerships between families and trained nurses for hands-on care.

    It recommended teaching parents and families effective baby care to reduce stress, help babies gain weight and allow their brains to develop correctly, adding, country policies should include quality health care and a lifelong investment for those born small or sick.

    According to it, just 20 cents per person can save two of every three newborns in low- and middle-income countries by 2030.

    The report spelt out that it was time for all countries to put in place the legislative, medical, human and financial resources to ensure the highest standard of health care, guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

  • Babies born to older dads may have higher risk of health problems – Study

    Babies born to older dads may have higher risk of health problems – Study

    A Stanford study linked babies of older fathers with a variety of increased risks at birth, including low birth weight and seizures, though they’re slight.

    The paper published on Wednesday in the journal BMJ showed that babies born to fathers of an “advanced paternal age,” which roughly equates to older than 35, are at a higher risk for adverse birth outcomes.

    The study, based on data from more than 40 million births, also suggested that the age of the father can sway the health of the mother during pregnancy, specifically her risk for developing diabetes.

    The older a father’s age, the greater the risk, according to the study.

    For example, men who are 45 or older are 14 per cent more likely to have a child born prematurely, and men 50 or older are 28 per cent more likely to have a child that requires admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.

    The researchers organized data based on the fathers’ age: younger than 25; 25 to 34; 35 to 44; 45 to 55; and older than 55 and adjusted for mothers’ age, maternal smoking, race, education and other factors.

    The data revealed that once a dad hits age 35, there’s a slight increase in birth risks overall.

    With every year that a man ages, he accumulates on average two new mutations in the DNA of his sperm.

    Also, the risk of gestational diabetes for pregnant women also increases in line with the age of the father.

    Women carrying the child of a man aged 55 years or older have a 34 per cent higher odds of gestational diabetes.

    They noted that this was an observational but not a cause-and-effect study and the overall absolute risks of these outcomes still remained low, so fathers don’t have to change their original life plan.

    But findings emphasized importance of including men in preconception care.

  • Naturally determining sex of our babies [2] – Francis Ewherido

    By Francis Ewherido

    Do not be surprised that we are still on this matter. Besides companionship, which God decreed as the primary reason for marriage, procreation comes next. And many people would love to have things their way, so the continuing interest in the pre-selection of the sex of babies is understandable. Today, we are going to deal with two questions, the fallout from last week’s article.

    Our first respondent wants to know how people were able to give birth to between five and 10 children of same sex in those days, when the knowledge on pre-selection was not available. Was it co-incidence? I come from a family of eight males, no female. I asked my mother how they did it. Was it planned? She said it was not, that it just happened.

    Now this is what I suspect could have happened in all these multiple births of same sex babies. Remember we identified two types of vaginal environments last week: the friendly alkaline and the hostile acidic environments. For those who had all males, I suspect they had a hostile environment. You remember we said last week that the sperms survive for a shorter time in a hostile environment. Let us assume, for the sake of our analysis here, two days. The implication is that for the woman to conceive, intercourse must take place around ovulation. In such a situation, the sperms carrying X chromosome stand no chance. The faster sperms carry the Y chromosome would reach and fertilise the released egg or ovary before the sperms with the X chromosome get to the egg. And if intercourse takes place three or more days before ovulation, the hostile acidic vaginal environment would probably have killed all the sperms, leaving no sperms, not even the enduring sperms carrying the X chromosome, to fertilise the egg.

    As for the couples, who had all female children, two reasons could have been responsible: timing and friendly vaginal environment. I suspect that intercourse was always taking place three or more days before ovulation and the released sperms had a field day because the environment was very friendly. Consequently, the sperms carrying the Y chromosome, which are faster but have a shorter lifespan, died before the egg was released, leaving the slower, but more enduring sperms, carrying the X chromosome to fertilise the egg. The result of sperm with X chromosome and the egg, which invariably carries the X chromosome, is a baby girl.

    These are my educated guesses and if I am right, it is not surprising that some women in those days had 12 male children. Their vaginal environment was probably very acidic, so they stood very little chance of having female children, try as some of them did. In the case of those with only female children, their inability to know their days of ovulation was their challenge, not necessarily their friendly vaginal environment, because that key knowledge of the day of ovulation would have put them in the driver’s seat of pre-selecting the sex of their children. But then, these are the assumptions of a non-medical professional.

    • The second question, how can women with irregular periods accurately predict ovulation? We mentioned them last week. First, the thick slimy vaginal discharge, which is like phlegm or egg white, is unmistakable and markedly different from the discharge prior to and after ovulation. Here all the woman needs is regular monitoring. Also the sharp pain on the side or lower abdomen is also unmistakable for some women. They notice it once the egg is released, indicating the beginning of ovulation. Three, some women also have a heightened sense of smell during ovulation. There is a common conversation among couples: wife: “what’s smelling here?” Husband smells the air and responds, “I can’t smell anything.” Wife: “your nostrils are blocked.” Unknown to some women, they are ovulating.
    • Incidentally, smell is a very powerful tool to know when ovulation occurs. That is how many males in the animal kingdom know when their females are in heat or in season (ovulating). Animals predict ovulation with stunning accuracy. It is somewhat ironic that humans, who are higher creatures, lag behind in this department. May be, that is God’s way of ensuring that we have a fairly balanced population of men and women. If everybody understood natural sex selection, the world’s population would be lopsided in favour of one sex and you know the sex.
    • Four, during ovulation, some women experience soreness of breast. Even slightly touching their breasts causes pains. Some others experience tenderness in their breasts and can easily get sexually aroused with sucking or touch. Five, some women experience increase in the normal (basal) body temperature.
    • Six, due to hormonal changes during ovulation, some women experience increased libido. This is always a trap for women, who practice natural family planning and have no plans for babies at that time. The desire to engage in intercourse is high during this period. Some couples gamble: “nothing go happen,” they console themselves, knowing pregnancy can occur. Some of the unplanned male children you see in families were given birth to at such times, because intercourse then invariably results in a male child.
    • To be doubly sure, some women combine two or more of these signs to know their ovulation period. But if you are still confused, then you have to do the more reliable daily charting of vaginal discharge. There is a popular book on it; you can send me an email for the name.

     

    Who will save Nigerians from DISCOS

    In the face of dwindling resources and receding purchasing power, many Nigerians are groaning under the weight of crazy bills from power distribution companies. What does it take to make pre-paid meters available to all electricity consumers, so that every household can be in control of their electricity expenses?

    It is so painful seeing your neighbours with more electrical gadgets, but with pre-paid meters, paying less than you do. A family travels for a month and is welcomed with the same N30,000 monthly bill they were paying while their residence was occupied. In a whole month, you get electricity cumulatively for seven days, yet DISCOs bill you as if you have had power supply for the whole month. Some neighbourhoods have not had electricity supply for months, yet they are being forced to pay for electricity.

    In spite of all the messages you get in respect of consumer rights, consumers are helpless when it comes to electricity billings. The government and its agencies should come to the aid of Nigerians.

  • 140m babies born annually – WHO

    Worldwide, an estimated 140 million births take place every year and most of these occur without complications for women and their babies, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

    Nothemba Simelela, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents, stated this while issuing new guidelines on global care standards throughout labour and immediately after childbirth.

    The WHO official said the new guidelines aimed at reducing the use of needless and potentially harmful routine clinical and medical interventions.

    Simelela said: “We want women to give birth in a safe environment with skilled birth attendants in well-equipped facilities.

    “However, the increasing medicalisation of normal childbirth processes are undermining a woman’s own capability to give birth and negatively impacting her birth experience”.

    Worldwide, an estimated 140 million births take place every year and most of these occur without complications for women and their babies.

    However, according to WHO, over the past 20 years, health practitioners have increased the use of interventions that were previously only used to avoid risks or treat complications, such as oxytocin infusion to speed up labour or caesarean sections.

    Studies show that a substantial proportion of healthy pregnant women undergo at least one clinical intervention during labour and birth.

    “If labour is progressing normally, and the woman and her baby are in good condition, they do not need to receive additional interventions to accelerate labour,” Simelela added.

    Based on 56 evidence-based recommendations, the new guidelines include having a companion of choice during labour and childbirth.

    It also include ensuring respectful care and good communication between women and health providers and maintaining privacy and confidentiality.

    It further allowed women to make decisions about their pain management, labour and birth positions and natural urge to push, among others.

    It recognised that every labour and childbirth is unique and that the duration of the active first stage of labour varies from one woman to another.

    The UN agency also noted that with more women giving birth in health facilities with skilled health professionals and timely referrals, they deserved better quality of care.

    Estimates show that about 830 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the world every day – the majority of which can be prevented with high-quality care.

    “Achieving the best possible physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes for the woman and her baby requires a model of care in which health systems empower all women to access care that focuses on the mother and child,” WHO underscored.

  • ‘I have not seen my babies,I have been busy’-Harrysong confesses

    Following the news of Harrysong welcoming his first bundle of joy, set of twins with his Abuja-based girlfriend, the Reggae Blue sensation has declared that he is yet to set his eyes on them. Recall that the singer had denied having a wife or even being in a relationship, only for news of an Abuja-based businesswoman giving birth to his twins surfacing days later.

    The AlterPlate boss was recently probed by reporters on how he feels about his set of twins. In his words: “I’ve not seen the kids. I’ve been very busy, very very busy. They’re still in LA. They are not around”. He further added that he has only seen their pictures. “It’s been amazing. I just saw pictures; the mother has been sending me pictures. It’s a responsibility I own up to. However it is, I give God praise for it.’

    “It’s been amazing. I just saw pictures; the mother has been sending me pictures. It’s a responsibility I own up to. However it is, I give God praise for it.”

    When asked about his relationship with Kcee his former label boss, he said:”We’re friends, we’re family. AlterPlate is doing good, Five Star is doing good. We’re one.”

    Harrysong was born as the only child to Ijaw parents in Warri, Delta State. After the death of his mother, a strained relationship between him and his step-mother led to his drop-out from school and his involvement with music grew after moving to Port Harcourt. At age eleven, Harrysong’s music career started as a percussionist in the church his mother served as the music director before he went on to learn contemporary gospel music. In 2007, he moved to Lagos as the lead singer of a live band who perform in nightclubs until he met Kcee which led to him signing for Five Star Music.